Fire destroys home in Tuscaloosa County

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — A Tuscaloosa County family is homeless after a fire destroyed their home early Tuesday morning.

The home located on Old Fayette Road is a total loss. Sam Carpenter, 78, and his 87-year-old sister Cora both escaped and got out of the house, but she suffered a minor injury. Carpenter says both he and his sister are lucky they survived.

“My sister was screaming that her room was on fire, and I tried to put out the fire with a bucket of water, but it didn’t do any good. But I am grateful for everything, and yes this could have been worse, but this what we suffered is just a financial loss,” said Carpenter.

Carroll’s Creek Volunteer Fire Department along with Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue responded to the house just after 6:30 a.m. and found heavy fire coming through the roof. Chief Keith Hamner says firefighters were able to get the fire under control quickly.

“We responded quickly and arrived on scene, the family is very lucky, they tried to put out the fire with buckets of water and then they got out, and they are very lucky. They said by the time they went down the hallway, that smoke had overtook the home, and they got out and called us,” Hamner said.

Benny Harris, Sam Carpenter’s brother tells CBS 42 this could have been much worse.

“That is the silver lining, that nobody was seriously injured and things can replaced, and life is something different, and we are really thankful to God for sparing these two because they are close family,” said Carpenter.

Hamner says he believes the fire was electrical, and started as a result of a faulty power strip in one of the bedrooms. The victims are now staying with relatives until they can find permanent housing.

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